Challenging ’69 Charger

J. P. Miller’s Restoration of His 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Super Track Pack

We’re always told about stories of people who finally get their hero car and it often turns out to be so much work it gets abandoned. For J. P. Miller, he knew he had something special once this 1969 Dodge Charger R/T arrived, but it wasn’t ready for anything close to street duty when it did.

“It was a barn find out of Moscow, Idaho,” J. P. Miller began his recollection of when he first heard about this 1969 Charger. “A friend of mine and father of my Goddaughter, who also would end up doing the paintwork, found it in a ‘Penny Saver’ magazine in Spokane, Washington.”

J. P., like a lot of us, was a huge fan of the “Dukes of Hazzard” and its hero car Charger and often seen as a character itself, General Lee. His friend knew he was looking for a 1969 model to match it as J. P. wanted to build a General Lee replica. So, they contacted the owner in Idaho and that’s when the story turned into something more than just a remake of a classic cult car.

“It turned out he was basically holding a silent auction for the car,” said Miller, “so, it totally caught us off guard and basically he have people look at the car and what it was coming with, write their offer on a paper and folded it in an envelope, and then at the end of the week pull the offers out of it and award it to the highest bidder.”

…you won’t find any Bondo on this Charger…

So, Miller went with Price is Right rules and bid $10,001.01 to ensure that he at least was the highest he could predict. At the end of the week, he got a call from an Idaho number to tell him he had won and could pick up the car and all the parts that came with it.

Randy Scheurer then drove a rollback from Spokane to Moscow, Idaho and back with everything on and in it. From there, it was a ten-year process of stripping the car down and restoring it back to what you see before you. It was loaded on to a rotisserie and torn down to its bare chassis. After that, it was media blasted and acid dipped before taking it over to Doug Standerfer of Spokane Valley, Washington for the sheet metal work.

Very extensive sheet metal work as the quarter panels and taillight panel needed to be replaced but the rear window metal work and pillars were able to be repaired by Doug. However, you won’t find any Bondo on this Charger as the metal work included leading for a proper, time-proven repair.

The rear quarter panels and taillight surround all had to be remade and were some of the first stamped sheets from Auto Metal Direct (AMD) for the 1969 Charger. While brand new stamped panels aren’t too hard to find now, back in 2005 they and Year One were the only ones making them and the process was only beginning for AMD.

…these are bumps you must anticipate, and patience, as well as understanding, is required.

Their molds had yet to be tweaked from the car they created their bucks from, and the panels wouldn’t fit correctly right away due to the gauge of metal used wasn’t exactly factory original, either. When you’re this early in the game for a restoration of a car like this, these are bumps you must anticipate, and patience, as well as understanding, is required. J. P. knew the hurry-up-and-wait game would be worth it after researching the car.

In between all the restoration work, Miller decided to dig into the history of this car and found out it was an original R/T Super Track Pack with a 440-cubic-inch V8, four-speed transmission, and radio delete. Someone bought this with the intention of racing it and looking into the engine, which was blown apart from a track thrashing before being parked, it showed.

While J. P. wasn’t the only owner, he did a VIN track and contacted the third owner of the car. Needless to say, the former Air Force serviceman was blown away to know the car was not only still around but in the process of being restored back to its former glory, too. Especially in the state, he showed him at the time.

Yes, you read that correctly. The engine block was in pieces as some time in the 1980s a rod went through it. However, the entire car was numbers matching and that included that original 440 big block Mopar that would have been considered destroyed by other builders.

Miller took it to an engine shop in California that specialized “lost cause blocks.” He took a look at the block and found that, while there was a large hole in it, the webbing was intact and could be repaired. Other than a standard rebuild and putting the block back together again, the engine is factory original.

…far greater, much rarer, and a hero car to lust over in its own right.

At this point, it was now April of 2012, the metal work was done, the paint was factory matched, and the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Super Track Pack was ready for final assembly. All of the key parts were sourced from Ed Wogulis’ The Mopar Shop in Madera, California while other parts and assembly help was done by Dave La Marche of Concord, California.

The car is as original as you can get, even the wheels are a Mopar set you would find under it, but it does sit on modern Milestar StreetSteel tires with raised white lettering for that proper 1969 street car look with contemporary grip and wear.

From the work J. P. Miller did, this has been one incredible restoration job. It’s possibly one of the best we’ve seen in a long time. While he wanted a General Lee, we feel that he’s come out with something far greater, much rarer, and a hero car to lust over in its own right.

Party Time:
Joe Rogan’s Chevy “Novaro”

As the trend for hot rodding muscle cars of all shapes and sizes continues to grow the desire and sometimes need to be different grows with it. However, as hot rod guru Pete Chapouris once said, “It’s not about being different. It’s about doing the right stuff in a different way. More is not always better, less is usually more.”

The exception that proves the ‘less is more’ rule is this new ’69 “Novaro” from the talented teams at Steve Strope’s Pure Vision Design, Mick’s Paint and Joey Angelo. In typical fashion, Strope had the vision to combine the aesthetics of a ’69 Chevy Nova and the four fenders of a ’69 Camaro—the ones with the speed flashes coming off the top of the fender lips. It’s a unique idea that nobody else conceived.

To execute the work Strope turned to Mick Jenkins at Mick’s Paint, Pomona, CA, and ace metal shaper Joey Angelo. Joey’s work was well known as he worked his magic on Bob Florine’s ’57 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon that was another Pure Vision/Mick’s Paint collaboration. Incidentally, the wagon was voted Street Rod of the Year by Street Rodder magazine.

In the case of the Novaro being built for comedian Joe Rogan, Strope’s vision was to adapt the distinctive ’69 Camaro fenders onto the iconic shape of the same year Nova. Easy peasy, right? Not so fast. The Nova is kinda slab-sided whereas the Camaro is actually quite bulbous through the sides. Sure, the Camaro fenders lay onto of the Nova but the side profiles of each car are very different and making ends meet was not simple. Likewise not simple was reshaping the doorjambs front and rear.

Being able to see and understand how metal is formed and how it can be massaged and shaped is an art and Joey nailed in less than three months saying, “It was not easy. The Nova needed some restoration before we could even begin the modifications and its sheet metal is original, old and somewhat thicker at 19 gauge compared to the new 21 gauge Dynacorn fenders. Trickiest part was the front of the fenders where I had to blend the curved Camaro panels into the flatter Nova fenders. Also, the front jambs were very complicated to shape. All told, there was almost 200 feet of welding, hammering, picking and filing.”

The result of Joey’s labors and those of his sometime assistant Paul Carroll were unveiled in a private ‘reveal’ in an exclusive garage in Van Nuys, California. The event coincided with the debut of Strope’s new TV show called Hand Built Hot Rods showing on the MotorTrend Channel. Luckily, stateofspeed.com was on the VIP list and we got to see Rogan literally speechless when the cover was pulled back and the car that he had never seen before was revealed. It was like handing over a baby to a first-time father.

Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to do to finish the build. It will go back to Pure Vision Design in Simi Valley for mechanical working including the installation of a blown-Corvette LT4 engine. Then it will go to Mick’s Paint for final body and paintwork. Expect to see it finished sometime this year.

From Zero to Ford Mustang Mach 1 in 17 Years

Dennis McGrath’s Beach-Cruising 1969 Mach 1 Ford Mustang

If you see Dennis McGrath’s Grabber Blue 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 drive by, you’re going to turn your head until it disappears down the road. It’s such an eye-catching a car, you don’t want to lose sight of it. When asked about his small-block powered 1969 ‘Stang, McGrath told us he’s just always liked Mustangs, and who can blame him? Since its introduction, the Ford ponycar has been a winner, both on track and on dealer lots. In 1969, the Mustang got a tough new facelift too, with quad headlights, high-hipped quarterpanel scoops, and a variety of ferocious engine and graphics packages.

For Dennis and Jenny McGrath, there’s no need for stripes or big blocks. Give them a high-revving 351 Cleveland, a shift kit in the C6 transmission, and an empty lane to blast down California’s Pacific Coast Highway, and they’ll give the Pacific Ocean a run for its money as “Most eye-catching view on the California coast.”

Getting the Mustang into beach-cruising shape was a 17-year-long process. Along with hotting-up the 9.5:1 compression 351 V8 with a mild cam and valve job and then topping it with an Edelbrock manifold and 650 carburetor, they upgraded to March pulleys and power steering, and an MSD distributor, box and coil. That improved spark lights off the fuel and the spent gasses take a trip out through Hedman Hedders. The Cleveland keeps its cool thanks to a Mattson aluminum radiator.

Backing the small block is a C6 automatic, beefed up with a hardened shaft, racing servo, shift kit, and 2400-stall B&M torque converter. In the back is a Ford 9-inch limited slip with 3.50 gears. The McGraths wanted the Mustang to handle, so a CPP front sway bar and KYB shocks take on the turns and bounces. To keep the car stable and straight, a Total Control brace counteracts body flex. Additional stiffening comes from Total Control subframe connectors, and in the rear, Scott Drake leaf springs help keep the power squatted down on widened 15-inch Rally 500 wheels wrapped in 255/60-15 Milestar Streetsteel rubber, picked for just the right mix of street performance and that classic muscle car look. In the front, 235/60-15 Milestars point the pony in the right direction. Disc brakes on all four corners bring the Mustang to a quick stop.

Inside the Mustang Mach 1, Dakota digital gauges keep tabs on the temps and TMI leather bucket seats let the McGraths lean back and enjoy tunes through the Sony receiver, JL Audio amps, and 10-inch subwoofer and Focal speakers. So if McGrath’s car catches your eye on the road or at a show, nobody will blame you for keeping an eye on it, it’s just that perfect pony stance, sound, and style.